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An Overview of Researches on Biolinguistics ISSN 1712-8056[Print] Canadian Social Science ISSN 1923-6697[Online] Vol. 10, No. 1, 2014, pp. 171-176 www.cscanada.net DOI:10.3968/j.css.1923669720141001.4219 www.cscanada.org An Overview of Researches on Biolinguistics WU Jieqiong[a],* [a]School of Foreign Languages, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan, language to light and promote the further development China. of linguistics. Biolinguistics aims to study languages *Corresponding author. from the perspective of biology and highlights the Received 23 August 2013; accepted 15 January 2014 fact that humanistic linguistics obtains motive force of development from biology (Yuan & Liu, 2008). Abstract Biolinguistics can be interpreted in both narrow and In 1997 in memory of the 40th anniversary of broad senses. Biolinguistics in narrow sense mainly refers transformational-generative grammar, Jenkins wrote to the study on grammar attributes proposed by school the article “Biolinguistics: Structure development and of generative grammar represented by Chomsky, who evolution of language”, which helped produce a large studies languages as a natural object and regards linguistic number of scholarly monographs and papers with respect organic function as human brain’s innate biological organ. to biolinguistics. Simultaneously, a series of relevant In broad sense, the study of biolinguistics means language international academic seminars were successfully held. research from the perspectives of evolutionary biology, This paper, based on the summarization of research neuroscience, genetic science, psychology and even status quo on biolinguistics, looks forward to the future physiological basis for the research of languages (Wu, development of biolinguistics so as to help predict the 2012a). development of biolinguistic researches. Although the discipline of biolinguistics is a new branch of science, it has a long history. As early as the Biolinguistics; Transformational- Key words: 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci mentioned the concept of generative grammar; Linguistics; Biology biolinguistics, although he did not give it a formal name. After the appearance of Charles Darwin’s evolution, many WU Jieqiong (2014). An Overview of Researches on Biolinguistics. linguists attempted to study languages from the angle Canadian Social Science, 10(1), 171-176. Available from: http://www. cscanada.net/index.php/css/article/view/j.css.1923669720141001.4219 of evolution theory in the hope to find out the evolution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.css.1923669720141001.4219 mark of language. Among the researchers were the most unknown ones such as August Schleicher and Sigmund Freud, etc. (Wu, 2012b). In 1997 in memory of the 40th anniversary of transformational-generative grammar, INTRODUCTION Jenkins (1997) wrote the article “Biolinguistics: structure “Fictional names” which are meaningful but without development and evolution of language”, which helped referents have been one of the important focuses of produce large number of scholarly monographs and linguistic philosophy and even the whole of philosophy. papers with respect to biolinguistics. Simultaneously, a Exploration of it has found that language is not only the series of relevant international academic seminars were external physical prospect, but also human subjective successfully held. Although researches on biolinguistics creation and result. Nevertheless, researches with had been going on well outside China, for quite a long respect to linguistic philosophy have never arrived at time simply a few Chinese scholars were very much unanimous conclusions as far as the nature of language concerned with this research field. This paper analyses is concerned. It might be of great help to introduce relevant literature, briefly summarizes the research biology into linguistics so as to bring the nature of status quo on biolinguistics outside China in the hope 171 Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture An Overview of Researches on Biolinguistics that it will be beneficial for Chinese scholars to get to “Biolinguistics Investigations” held in Domingo, know the current situation with regard to researches on “Biolinguistics: Language Evolution and Variation” in biolinguistics. Venice, “International Network in Biolinguistics, First Meeting” in Arizona and “Biolinguistics: Acquisition, Language, Evolution” held in York University. In 2010 1. LITERATURE STATISTICS ENTITLED the international seminar “The Language Design” held “BIOLINGUISTICS” by scholars of biolinguistics at Université du Québec à Montréal resumed to focus on Chomsky’s Three Factors The emergence of the term “biolinguistics” can be traced in Language Design, TFLD which was published in 2005 back to 1959 and the book Handbook of Biolinguistics written by Clarence and Muyskens (Tang, 2004). For and had discussions on the special topic of language the first time the book combined the research findings design. In the year 2011 the seminar “Graduate workshop on biology with linguistics to define “biolinguistics”. In of biolinguistics” held at University of Groningen 1974, called together by Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, also provided an opportunity of cooperation and experts such as linguists, biologists and neuroscientists communication for researchers of biolinguistics (Elisa, who paid close attention to the mutual topic of linguistics 2011). In addition, “International Conference on the and biology attended the international academic Evolution of Language, EVOLANG” has been held every conference held by Rom. Institute of Research, Paris, and two years since 1996. It explores the issues concerning American Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). the source of human languages and their bio-mechanism At the conference the term “biolinguistics” was proposed, evolution and promotes the development of biolinguistics which obviously indicated that biolinguistics was inter- to some extent. discipline of biology and linguistics. The concept of In addition, the international linguistic journal “biolinguistics” mentioned in this paper is supposed to Biolinguistics created by Boeckx, Kleanthes & Grohmann stem from that academic conference. In 1980, sponsored was published in 2007 and has supplied a platform of by molecular biology laboratory at Harvard University, academic communication and further pushes forward the a research group of “biolinguistics” was set up, whose development of biolinguistics as a new branch of science. research fields involved theoretical linguistics, molecular biology, language learning barriers, neurology of animal communication, neurolinguistics, aphasia, computer 3. BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO BOOKS linguistics, babies’ pre-language perception, the origin and ON BIOLINGUISTICS evolvement of linguistics, and biolinguistics became an By means of careful reading of literature on biolinguistics, inter-discipline worthy of its name (Wu, 2012c). the researcher of this paper has found that academic From 1950 to 1997, there were only four bibliography papers entitled biolinguistics can be roughly sorted into entries about biolinguistics, among them were three three categories, most of which focus on the significant monographs and one academic paper. Nevertheless, correlations between transformational-generative grammar it was not until 1997 when Jenkins wrote the article and the minimalist program. In other words, the authors “Biolinguistics: structure development and evolution th of the following papers believed that biolinguistics was of language” in memory of the 40 anniversary of the synonym of transformational-generative grammar. transformational-generative grammar, and “Laboratory The papers include the following: Fujita’s (2003) for Biolinguistics” was set up at Ricken Brain Science “Progress in biolinguistics-Geneses of language-A view Institute that the spring for biolinguistics came. from generative Grammar” published in Viva Origino; Encouraged by Jenkins’ symbolic article, from 2000 to Bird’s (2006) “Biolinguistics: what is it, who does it, 2010 abruptly appeared thirty-five bibliography entries and how should it proceed” published in Chomskyan on biolinguistics, taking up 71.4% of all literature entitled Studies; Lee’s (2006) “Chomksy and biolinguistics” biolinguistics, including the nine published in 2011. published in Chomskyan Studies, Epstein & Seely’s (2007) “The anatomy of biolinguistics minimalism” published in Biolinguistics and Lebelle’s (2007) academic 2. COMMUNICATIVE PLATFORM paper “Biolinguistics, the minimalist program and ASSOCIATED WITH BIOLINGUISTICS psycholinguistic reality” published in Snippets. In addition to the relevant academic literature, researchers Besides, some literature aimed to explore the core of biolinguistics from all over the world held seven large- problems of biolinguistics such as structure of language, scale international academic seminars since “Conferencia phylogenetic language evolution and ontogenetic language Inaugural Del Grup De Biolinguistica (GB)” which was development. Among them the representatives were held in Barcelona in 2004. To be more specific, from Jenkins’s (1997) “Biolinguistics-structure, development 2007 to 2008, four influential international conferences and evolution of language”, published in Web Journal were held with respect to biolinguistics, including of Formal, Computational and Cognitive Linguistics Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture 172 WU Jieqiong (2014). Canadian Social Science, 10(1), 171-176 and in memory of the 40th anniversary transformational-
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